Elon Musk has fired Twitter’s board of directors, giving himself unlimited control over the social media giant, according to a company filing. Musk became Twitter’s “sole director” after its $44 billion takeover of the company was finalized last week, according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday. Tesla’s CEO tweeted later Monday that the deal would be “temporary” without elaborating. Musk, who also runs spaceflight company SpaceX and tech startup Neuralink, began his tenure at the company on Thursday by firing top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal. Musk also offered to buy back all of Twitter’s outstanding bonds, according to the SEC filing. Musk, the world’s richest man, completed the purchase of the company through a combination of his own fortune, investment funds and bank loans. A separate SEC filing showed that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal had become Twitter’s second largest shareholder. Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, said he would ask the Committee on Foreign Investment to consider the national security implications of Saudi Arabia’s investment in the platform. We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in suppressing political speech and influencing US policy, are now the second largest owner of a major social media platform. There is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review. — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 31, 2022 Musk’s acquisition of the major social media network has sparked a heated debate about the balance between free speech and protecting vulnerable groups from online harm. Musk, a self-described “absolutist of free speech,” has criticized Twitter’s moderation policies and accused the company of favoring left-wing views. While Musk has yet to spell out his exact plans for the platform, he is widely expected to relax moderation rules and cut a significant portion of the company’s workforce. While acknowledging that Twitter can’t be a “free-for-all hellscape,” Musk emphasized the need for a “common digital town square” where a wide range of opinions can be expressed and debated. Musk, who has expressed discomfort with Twitter’s reliance on ads, has also signaled interest in requiring users to pay for the blue checkmark used to verify important accounts and offering different versions of the platform based on a system movie-like rating.
